Top Beaches Day Trips from Middlesbrough
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The top Beaches Day Trips from Middlesbrough include North Gare Beach, Blackhall Rocks Beach, Horden Beach, Easington Beach, Shippersea Bay, Blast Beach, Chemical Beach and Seaham Hall Beach.
Middlesbrough sits on the Tees, and just to the north the coast begins almost at once, opening into one of the most quietly notable shorelines in England. Nearest of all is North Gare at the mouth of the river near Seaton Carew, a sandy beach of dunes and breakwaters within the Teesmouth nature reserve.
Head further up the Durham coast and you reach a run of shores with a shared story: Blackhall Rocks, Horden and Easington, once blackened by coal spoil and now cleaned up and coming back to life beneath limestone cliffs. Beyond them lie the hidden coves of Shippersea Bay and, around Seaham, the atmospheric sands of Blast Beach and Chemical Beach.
Furthest along is Seaham Hall Beach, celebrated for the sea glass that still washes up from an old bottleworks. This is a coast of caves, cliffs, wildlife and industrial history rather than bucket-and-spade resorts, and it rewards a day of exploring.
Here are eight beaches for a day trip from Middlesbrough.
North Gare Beach
Photo: Mick Garratt via Geograph.org.uk
North Gare Beach Few beaches frame such a contradiction: wild coast and wildlife to the north, the chimneys and cranes of the Teesside works crowding the horizon to the south. This sandy shore lies at the northern mouth of the River Tees near Seaton Carew, part of the Teesmouth nature reserve, backed by low dunes and a golf links.
Its landmark is the North Gare breakwater, an old training wall pushing out to sea and reached on foot across the dunes. Birdwatchers prize it for the waders and migrants working the tideline, and a car park waits close by.
Bring binoculars and settle in.
Blackhall Rocks Beach
Photo: Kevin Waterhouse via Geograph.org.uk
Blackhall Rocks Beach About 19km up the Durham coast, between Hartlepool and Seaham, Blackhall Rocks is a rugged beach set beneath cliffs of pale magnesian limestone. It is a rocky, pebbly shore rather than a broad sweep of sand, and the cliffs are pierced by some of the largest caves along this coast.
Steep steps lead down from the clifftop, where a nature reserve of thin, lime-rich grassland grows rare wildflowers through early summer, alive with skylarks. For much of the twentieth century the coast lay black with mining waste, before a major restoration around 2000 cleaned it up and revived it.
The bleak, coal-darkened beach once played the closing scenes of the film Get Carter.
Horden Beach
Photo: Carol Rose via Geograph.org.uk
Horden Beach A little further on, about 21km out, this long Durham Heritage Coast shore was once among Europe's most polluted, buried under colliery waste tipped from the pits above. The clean-up around 2000 cleared the spoil, and the sand has bounced back far quicker than anyone predicted, though patches still show a stain of coal and ochre.
Grassland tops the low limestone cliffs behind, with the coast railway threading along the clifftop. Facilities are few, so come prepared for a wide, empty sweep of shore that has clawed itself back from heavy industry.
Easington Beach
Photo: Oliver Dixon via Geograph.org.uk
Easington Beach Around 24km from Middlesbrough, Easington Beach lies below the former colliery town of Easington on the Durham Heritage Coast. For years the shore here was black with waste tipped from the pit, until the clean-up around 2000 stripped away the spoil and let it recover.
Today it is a stony beach backed by low cliffs, part of a nature reserve and the coastal path, though bits of old industrial debris and sea glass still turn up in the shingle. The pit closed in 1993, and the coast has been steadily reclaimed ever since, so it makes a thoughtful stop for anyone drawn to this region's mining past.
Shippersea Bay
Photo: Mat Fascione via Geograph.org.uk
Shippersea Bay Coal spoil once blackened this whole stretch of the Durham Heritage Coast, but decades of cleaning up have returned it, and the National Trust clifftops above now carry rare limestone grassland and wildflowers. The cove itself is small and remote, tucked below yellow magnesian limestone cliffs north of Easington, reached only on foot along the clifftop coast path, which keeps it quiet and undisturbed.
Geologists come for a particular curiosity: an ancient raised beach preserved in the cliff, laid down when the sea stood higher than it does today. A peaceful spot with real interest beyond the view.
Blast Beach
Photo: Andrew Curtis via Geograph.org.uk
Blast Beach About 28km from Middlesbrough at Dawdon, near Seaham, Blast Beach sits beneath cliffs of pale magnesian limestone. For most of the twentieth century it was one of the most spoiled beaches in Britain, buried under black waste tipped straight over the cliffs from Dawdon Colliery above.
Its otherworldly look saw the opening scenes of the film Alien 3 shot here in the early 1990s, while coal waste was still coming down the cliffs. After the pits closed, a major clean-up around 2000 stripped away much of the spoil and let the coast recover.
It is far cleaner now, though rust-red staining still marks the rocks, and limestone stacks stand out on the sand.
Chemical Beach
Photo: Ian S via Geograph.org.uk
Chemical Beach Just along at roughly 29km, Chemical Beach lies on the Durham coast near Seaham, below magnesian limestone cliffs, its name a leftover from a Victorian chemical works that once stood above it. The foreshore is rocky, with ledges, a sea stack and old chaldron wagon wheels showing at low tide.
It sits on the stretch of coast known for sea glass, where the tide throws up smoothed, coloured fragments among the pebbles. Waste tipped over the cliffs in the industrial years still colours the ground here, a reminder of the working past that shaped this whole shore.
Seaham Hall Beach
Photo: DS Pugh via Geograph.org.uk
Seaham Hall Beach Comb the tide line here and you turn up glass, frosted and rounded into little coloured pebbles by a century of surf. The reason lies in the town's Victorian past, when one of Britain's largest bottleworks stood at Seaham and tipped its waste glass straight into the sea for decades.
The waves did the rest, wearing the shards smooth until they washed back as treasure. Collectors work this sand-and-shingle shore just north of Seaham on the Durham coast, and a red or a blue counts as a proper prize.
The bottleworks closed in the 1920s, yet its colours keep arriving. Time a falling tide.
FAQs
How far is the Durham coast from Middlesbrough?
The nearest beach, North Gare at the mouth of the Tees, is only about 9km from Middlesbrough. The Durham Heritage Coast beaches run further north, from roughly 19km at Blackhall Rocks up to around 32km at Seaham Hall Beach, all comfortably within a day trip.
Where can you find sea glass near Middlesbrough?
The coast around Seaham is the place to go, with Chemical Beach and especially Seaham Hall Beach known for the sea glass left behind by an old bottleworks. Beachcombers search the tide lines here for smoothed, coloured fragments, prizing the rare reds and blues.
Are these beaches good for swimming?
Most are rocky, pebbly or tidal shores better suited to walking, birdwatching and beachcombing than to bathing, and several have few facilities. If you visit spots like Blackhall Rocks or Blast Beach near Seaham, keep an eye on the tide and wear sturdy footwear.
Conclusion
For a stretch of coast once written off as spoiled, the Durham shore north of Middlesbrough has come back in singular style. It begins on your doorstep at North Gare, where dunes and a breakwater meet the Teesmouth reserve, then climbs through Blackhall Rocks, Horden and Easington, beaches reborn from their mining years beneath limestone cliffs.
Seek out the hidden cove of Shippersea Bay, the cinematic sands of Blast Beach and Chemical Beach around Seaham, and the sea-glass treasure of Seaham Hall Beach. These are wild, rocky, historic shores rather than deckchair resorts, so wear stout shoes, check the tides and take your time.
Bring a bag for beachcombing and a camera for the cliffs and caves. Whether you come for the wildlife, the history or the glass, these are the beaches for a day trip from Middlesbrough.
